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Crop production, livestock production and related land use activities make the agriculture sector one of the largest sources of short-lived climate pollutants. Combined, the agriculture and forestry sectors are responsible for 24% of all greenhouse gases emitted worldwide, including roughly 40% of global black carbon emissions and half of all anthropogenic methane emissions.

As powerful greenhouse gases and air pollutants, short-lived climate pollutants negatively impact the productivity of some of the world’s most important crops and endanger the health and livelihoods of millions of people.

According to a report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and United Nations Environment (UNEP), actions to reduce short-lived climate pollutant emissions - both in the agriculture sector and globally - have the potential to prevent over 50 million tonnes of annual crop losses for the staples corn, rice, soy, and wheat by 2030, leading to total economic gains of US$4-33 billion. These actions can also help slow the rate of global warming by as much as 0.5˚C by 2050 and prevent the nearly two million annual premature deaths linked to air pollution by 2030.

Top facts

The agriculture and forestry sectors (including land use change) contribute approximately 24% of all global greenhouse gas emissions

The agriculture sector is responsible for approximately 40% of global black carbon and anthropogenic methane emissions

Factsheets

Objectives

The Coalition’s Agriculture Initiative works to advance methane and black carbon abatement and recovery practices within the sector. In addition to helping reduce the rate of near-term warming, these practices can provide immediate co-benefits for public health, food security and economic development, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and low-emissions agricultural development.

Tackling agricultural methane and black carbon emissions is an important objective for many countries, and many of the solutions advanced by the Coalition’s 11 initiatives will lead to increased agricultural productivity and contribute to the implementation of countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The Agriculture Initiative focuses its activities on the four largest emission sources in the sector:

Enteric fermentation: Methane expelled from livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, etc., as natural part of the digestive process -- responsible for close to 30% of global anthropogenic methane emissions

Livestock and manure management: Methane emissions from the storage of (especially liquid) manure -- responsible for 4% of global anthropogenic methane emissions; and 40% black carbon emissions from the burning of dung as heating and cooking fuel

Open burning of agricultural crops: The single largest source of black carbon emissions globally -- responsible for over a third of all emissions, with agricultural fires comprising 10-20% of all open fires

Poor manure management practices are common on much of the world’s farms, as farmers lack awareness about the value of livestock manure as a fertilizer and fuel. Manure is often disposed of in piles...

Paddy rice is a staple crop for much of the world’s population. It is also a key source of the greenhouse gas methane, responsible for about 40 million tonnes, or 10% of global emissions , each year...

Farmers in many parts of the world set fire to cultivated fields to clear stubble, weeds and waste before sowing a new crop. While this practice may be fast and economical, it is highly unsustainable...

Progress

In collaboration with the FAO, World Bank and Global Environment Facility, the initiative is supporting three large national livestock management programmes with more than $460 million in Uruguay, Ethiopia and Bangladesh. The programmes will incorporate the mitigation options for the livestock sector assessed by the initiative and have the potential to reduce approximately 4 million tonnes of methane per annum.